Reverse Cardiac Remodeling Response and Its Effect on Quality of Life After initiation of Sacubitril/valsartan in Heart Failure with Reduced Ejection Fraction

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate if switching therapy from an angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEI) or angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARB) to sacubitril/valsartan induces incremental left ventricular (LV) reverse remodeling and the effect of switching on quality of life (QOL) in heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF). Methodology: This prospective multicenter study included 100 patients with HFrEF. The patients were subdivided into two equal groups: Group one included patients who were switched to sacubitril/valsartan and group two included patients continued on ACEIs or ARBs as control group. The patients were subjected to medical history taking, clinical examination, heart failure related data, New York Heart Association (NYHA) functional classification, blood samples and chemistry, transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) and quality of life assessment. Results: There was marked improvement in all two dimensional (2D) echocardiography parameters, as left ventricular end-systolic volume (LVESVI), left ventricular end-diastolic volume index (LVEDVI) and left atrium volume index (LAVI) which significantly reduced after 3 months of therapy with significant improvement in LV function (P-value < 0.05). Moreover, mitral regurgitation (MR) severity significantly decreased (P-value < 0.05). Regarding quality of life, there was a significant improvement in QOL. KCCQ score was significantly improved after 3 months of treatment (P-value < 0.05). Conclusion: In HFrEF patients, sacubitril/valsartan significantly improves LV function; furthermore, it induces incremental LV reverse remodeling as well as improves QOL.